Biology 101
by Vicious Pink
Summary: PSII - Hugh Thompson decides to track down his friend, Amy Sage, to offer his assistance as a biologist. Things become a little more uncertain for the young scientist after a plan to retrieve research from Biosystems goes awry.
1. An Ingenious Idea

Hugh Thompson sat quietly at his dining room table and contemplated the message he had received over his visiphone. He hadn't turned off the phone's screen yet. He stared at the menu, noting it was 9:50PM. He flipped a keycard between the fingers of his right hand, and as it rolled between his index finger and thumb, he stopped juggling it and tapped it on the table. There was so much to think about. He decided to listen to the message again and touched the replay option. A red-headed woman appeared on the screen, smiling sweetly. It was only a recording, but Hugh still smiled back.

_Hi, Hugh. It's Amy. Of course, ha ha. You can see me; why am I saying who I am?_ _Anyway, I'm sorry this is so sudden, but I've been hired temporarily by Central Command for a special project. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be gone, but it might be a while. I'll be in Paseo for the duration, but of course if I get any free time I'll be sure to check on things in Oputa. I asked Heinz to check the house occasionally to make sure it's not flooding or whatever, but I want you to have the other keycard in case you need to borrow something. So here… I'm sending you my keycard._

The woman put a keycard into a mini-teleportation unit and punched a few buttons on the front of the machine. _Let me know if it gets lost in the ether!_ She laughed then cleared her throat before continuing.

_I know you tend to over think things, but I want you to know I'm in good hands. My new coworkers are all really nice, even though I'm not used to working with people outside the hospital. It's going to be a great experience, I think. Oh, and I might need your expertise occasionally. I hope that's all right. Hey, maybe I should ask them to hire you, too! Um, I guess that's it for now. I'll miss seeing you and the rest of the gang around Great Light. Call me on my mobile when you get a chance, and say hi to Rita for me. Bye!_

The last thing to appear on the message was the woman reaching toward the phone, and then the call ended and it was back to the bluish-gray main menu screen. Hugh leaned over and turned off the machine. He sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, annoyed. He should have been happy for his friend, but instead all he could think about was not being called to help with this "project" Amy was a consultant for. Why would a medical doctor be needed? Why would she need Hugh's expertise? Well, besides the fact that he was Motavia's leading expert in biology, of course. The thought made Hugh crack a smile.

Of course! He just needed an opportunity to prove himself. If Amy needed his help, he would give it to her in spades. He smelled something big in this special project. In the short time he had known Amy, he had already learned how averse she was to big changes. It would take something she believed in strongly for her to leave her job in Oputa, especially without notice. That sealed it. Hugh was resolved to helping Amy; after all, he was a paid consultant at Great Light Memorial and he could make his own schedule. He could track down Amy and give her all the important research he had conducted during his time at Bio...

Oh, dear. Biosystems. That was more than a problem. Two semesters of work study, if one could call it "study," since he excelled even beyond the scientists and researchers that were his supposed mentors, were lost in that death trap. The accident of two years ago at Biosystems had not been resolved, nor was it possible to retrieve anything out of that building. Hugh frustratedly slammed a fist into the table, right on top of his plate of cold, half-eaten dinner. He griped as he pulled his hand away and wiped it with a napkin.

As he was cleaning up, he looked closely at his hand. He opened it wide, twisted it slowly and looked at both sides. Observing his hand sparked a possible solution to infiltrating Biosystems.

"Vortex!" He rose from his chair so suddenly it tipped over. He turned to the living room and darted down the hallway to gather the supplies he'd need to breech the sealed laboratories. He called out items as he retrieved them and tossed them on his bed. There was no point in waiting; he would leave tonight! He could have those records for Amy by daylight. He wouldn't even have to take time away from his paid research. Biomonsters, bah. He chuckled at the thought of ever fearing them. He had taught himself a very complicated vortex technique that was deadly to biomonsters in one use. Nothing would get in his way in those labs!

"Hugh, you are a genius!" he boasted to himself. "Whatever Amy's a part of, they'll _have_ to take me, too. I know more about the biology of this planet than... than... Dad!"

Hugh's father was a well-known zoologist in Motavia's scientific community. The Thompsons were an academically competitive family, and each generation attempted to outdo the last. Hugh set the bar quite high for the next generation, though he owed part of his success as the foremost biologist on Motavia to the fact that there were fewer researchers after the tragedy at Biosystems Laboratories. Therefore, he put even more pressure on himself to find other ways to overachieve. Fortunately he meant well, and the benefits of his research usually paid off.

After stuffing several items into his backpack and changing into more rugged apparel, he gave himself a quick glance in the full-length mirror behind his bedroom door and smirked.

_I'm a genius._

* * *

Amy was worrying about something again, and it was driving Rolf crazy. She had been on her mobile device all day long while their group was conducting research at Central Tower, and Rolf was having enough trouble concentrating while keeping Nei company. Rudo wasn't there to help; he had gone to Central Tower's armory more than half an hour ago. Rolf had kept silent about all the distractions, but as Nei bugged him for the umpteenth time about when they were going to eat lunch, he wasn't sure he could take much more of being diplomatic.

"Nei," he said while rubbing his temples, "I really don't know when we're going to have lunch. Trust me, I'm just as hungry as... who the _hell_ is Amy talking to, anyway?" He went up to Amy and crossed his arms, staring down at her, perturbed by her lack of assistance in today's research.

Amy glanced up at Rolf and held up her index finger to stall him. Rolf grunted, but didn't move. He listened to her end of the conversation, hoping his presence would make her uncomfortable enough to end her phone call.

"Since Wednesday?" Amy asked as she tapped her fingers on the table and shook her head. "Oh, Mr. Thompson, I'm so sorry... yes... uh-huh... No, that's the same day I left him a message. I've been out of town ever since then, so no, I haven't seen him... yes... Well, Rita called right before you, and I told her the same thing. I can't think of who else to call, but... Oh! Let me talk to the Commander and see..."

Rolf pondered the mention of Commander O'Conner and was now more curious than ever about Amy's chat. She rose from her chair and patted Rolf's arm, as if he should join her in being upset over... whatever it was she was upset over. After a few head nods and a somber goodbye, her conversation was over.

Amy looked up at Rolf, worried. Rolf couldn't find it in him to be mad at her when she was obviously upset, so he uncrossed his arms and took a long sigh. "Doctor, what was that all about? You're not normally so concentrated on something other than the mission."

Amy broke into tears and grabbed Rolf's arm. "Oh, Rolf! My friend has been missing since Wednesday of last week! It's now Tuesday!"

Rolf cleared his throat. "I'm aware it's Tues-"

"I'm so worried about him! His family has checked everywhere! Work, his fiancée, all of his friends, all the places he frequents... he's gone! He's just... _gone!_"

Before Rolf could say anything, Nei rushed to Amy and comforted her. Nei seemed to have an insatiable need to make sure everyone was happy at all times.

"Dr. Sage, don't worry. I have a plan! We'll look for your friend! Rolf's an agent, Rudo's a hunter, I have great tracking skills, and you're-"

"You can't just volunteer us like that, Nei," Rolf interrupted. "I admire your compassion, but we have a job to do here. I'm sure we can send this to the Commander, though, and put out bulletins to all the local hunter's guilds and guardian offices as well."

Nei frowned. "Dr. Sage saved my life; I owe her!"

Amy took a tissue out of her pocket and wiped her eyes and nose. "Rolf is right; it's better to let more capable people handle this. The Commander will probably be the biggest help in getting the word out."

Nei grumbled. "Our group is better than anyone the Commander might send."

Rolf couldn't argue, but it wouldn't help Amy feel better to agree with Nei at the moment. Besides, now was a great time to get out of the library. "Let's find Rudo and the Commander and you can relay all that you know about your friend, Doctor," he said as he put a hand on her back and directed her toward the doors. Nei soon followed, adding another suggestion as they departed.

"Do you have something that belongs to him? I bet I could memorize his smell and-"

"Nei!" Rolf and Amy exclaimed.

* * *

Hugh was coming unglued. He was scared, exhausted and dehydrated. Earlier he had used some of his technique power to produce water through vapors in the air, but if he used any more power, he might not have enough to outlast the next round of carnivorous biomonsters that unrelentingly came his way. How long had he been trapped in the labs now? It was surely several days and counting. His mobile device had unfortunately been consumed by a monstrous fungus, and even though he was able to retrieve it after he turned the fungus into a pile of foul-smelling goo, the device was already broken.

Suddenly, Hugh was overcome with a panicky thought. _I'm going to die in here!_

The side entrance to Biosystems was only a dozen or so meters away from him, but it was blocked by debris due to his unsure aim while defending himself against a swarm of giant, mutated mushrooms. The only nearby chute led to the basement with no other route out of the building, and the infestation was worse in the basement. He had only gone down the chute momentarily before realizing that the walls and floors were still covered with liquid toxins from the accident that shut down Biosystems.

"Great Light, you've really gotten yourself into a fantastic mess," Hugh muttered himself, his voice hoarse and trembling. He reached out with a shaky hand to open the door of the cabinet he had barricaded himself in and peered out into the debris-strewn foyer. There was only the glow of the red emergency light, but the faint sounds of scratching could be heard in all directions. He pulled his hand away from the door and let it shut him into darkness. He backed into the corner of the cabinet and hugged his knees tightly. He tried to focus his breathing so that he wouldn't have to open the cabinet any time soon for another oxygen boost.

Eventually he would have to find the courage to try opening the outer doors, but right now Hugh was out of energy and teetering between reason and insanity. Motavia's leading biologist was trapped by the very science he was instrumental in developing two years ago. As Hugh slipped further into delirium, he laughed. Low oxygen or not, maintaining a low profile or not, his maniacal laughter filled the cabinet. Several biomonsters stopped their movement and concentrated on the source of the laughter.

Another round was coming...

* * *

_Note: More to come, obviously. Rita is from Hugh's text adventure, _"Huey's Adventure," _and she is his girlfriend. For the purpose of my own fan fiction, he is now engaged to her._


	2. In the Basement!

"I can't breathe in here!" Nei said between bouts of coughing and gagging.

The air in the basement of the Biosystems Laboratories was more than just musty. Chemicals were spilled everywhere, adding poisonous, noxious vapors that burned the lungs and stung the eyes of Rolf's group. Nei might have been complaining, but the weakest among the group of explorers, Amy, was barely conscious. Thankfully Rolf's group had reached the main computer terminal in Biosystems, which was the reason for their trek through the biomonster-infested building in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Nei," Rolf said as he looked over every part of the massive central computer system, searching desperately for the removable data recorder that had collected and stored all information concerning Biosystems. He grunted as he looked through drives and slots. "This computer is an outdated system I'm not familiar with, and I can't seem to locate-"

He stopped as he caught sight of Amy out of the corner of his eye. Her eyes had rolled back and she was fainting. Before Rolf could call out for someone closer to grab her, Rudo and Nei caught Amy under the arms to keep her upright. Nei used her res technique to revive Amy, which seemed to stabilize her for the time being, but the entire group was running out of stamina, not to mention technique power as well.

Nei looked distraught. "I don't think I can use res again; I'm drained," she told Rolf. Through a slurred and dizzy voice Amy also confirmed she had reached the end of her technique usage.

Rolf ran shaky hands through his hair. He _had_ to get his group out of Biosystems. Where was that damned recording device, anyway? The only light in the basement shone an obnoxious red, the air labored his breathing, there were biomonsters everywhere, and his team was holding on by a thread. The pressure Rolf faced getting his team out of the building had reached its boiling point.

"That recorder can appear any time now!" He slammed a fist into the machine. Rudo put a hand on Rolf's shoulder and shook his head.

"I don't think pounding on it will help. Do you want me to look? I'll try my best, though this is a far cry from the system the military uses." Rudo leaned into the giant terminal and began reading labels. "Hm, none of this looks familiar."

"I know," said Rolf, throwing up his hands. "It's entirely different from Central Command's as well. I can't make heads or tails of this ancient monstrosity."

Amy stepped forward while rubbing her head. "Wait a minute," she said, observing the main processing unit. "This is almost like the one the hospital uses in its archives!" Her hands moved quickly over the computer's tall exterior. She paused at one of the ports along the side of the processing unit. She fiddled with a latch, and after a few seconds a small, flat plastic card popped out of the slot. She smiled and gently pulled out the card. She held it up to the the rest of her teammates.

Rolf was shocked. "That's it? _That thing?_ It's no bigger than a keycard! What is the rest of this tower of circuits even for?"

Amy handed Rolf the card, and he found a secure place for it in his utility belt. She tucked her hair behind her ears and shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly don't get why half the computers on Motavia are as big as they are. It has something to do with Mother Brain, but other than that I-"

A deep bellow echoed throughout the room. More biomonsters. The tiny hairs on the back of Rolf's neck stood up. He gestured for everyone to prepare themselves for his hinas technique, which would allow them to exit the labs immediately. The group gathered around him, and he concentrated his technique core. Nothing happened.

"Oh, no! I'm depleted!" He frantically searched through his supplies for an escapipe, but was dismayed to find he had only packed a telepipe, which was useless indoors. He knew the others had only packed medicine, and suddenly he felt like he had let his team down. He looked at the rest of his group apologetically. Another long howl filled the basement. Rolf's heart raced as the overwhelming sense of being trapped set in.

Suddenly, Nei pushed ahead, extracted her claws and looked around. Her ears twitched. "Follow me!" she said as she moved swiftly away from the computer. Rolf wasn't sure where exactly she was leading them, but he knew Nei's fine-tuned instincts would lead them away from the biomonsters.

The group followed Nei through the basement, but it wasn't long before she stopped, stood up straight and gasped.

"Did you hear that?" She retracted her claws and turned to Rolf.

He could only shake his head. "Hear what?"

"Singing!" Nei glanced quickly in several directions. The rest of the group remained quiet, but their silence was broken when Amy let out a painful moan and hopped on one foot. Rudo took her by the arm to balance her.

Amy tried to calm her breathing and gulped heavily. "Something's stung my foot. It feels like it's on fire!" She looked at the bottom of her shoe. "Oh, no! It's not a sting; it's the chemicals. They've eaten through my shoe!"

Sure enough, Amy's foot had a chemical burn on it. She quickly applied dimate to the burned area and wrapped medical tape around her shoe to cover the hole. The doctor was on the verge of tears as she relayed to Rolf that she was out of dimate. A quick inventory check concluded that collectively the group had two dimates left. Some of the basement's corridors were too narrow to avoid walking through the caustic substances, and it was only a matter of time before someone else went through a similar shoe-dissolving experience.

Nei let out an angry grunt. "I'm going to get us out of here, and now!" She took off down one of the corridors. Rolf, Rudo and Amy followed behind her, mimicking her long strides as best they could to reduce the number of times their feet hit the hazardous chemicals. After several minutes, Nei happened upon a chute leading to the main level. Believing that the only ways out of the basement were either by teleportation or up the shaft of the broken cargo lift in the center of the building, Rolf was stunned by the discovery.

"There's no way!" Rolf exclaimed, putting a hand on the elevator door.

Rudo scratched his head. "This isn't on the map we downloaded from Command's database."

Rolf chuckled. "Just when I thought we ran out of luck, too," he said as he swiped his agent badge along the chute's security pad, unlocking and opening the doors. "Let's get out of here."

Inside the elevator, Amy pulled Nei in for a tight hug and wept on her shoulder. "Thank you so much. I don't know what we'd do without you."

Rudo and Rolf chimed in, patting Nei on the back and praising her. Nei returned Amy's hold and smiled.

There wasn't much of an opportunity for celebration as the elevator came to a stop on the ground floor and the doors slid open. The group pasted themselves to the inner walls of the chute, unsure of what awaited them on the new floor. While Rolf and Rudo carefully checked the area just outside the elevator, Nei was on high alert for signs of life. Her head twisted in Amy's direction, and she beckoned the doctor to follow her.

"It's all right, Doctor," said Nei. "From what I can tell, this seems to be a fairly small room, and I'm not sensing any monsters."

Amy took in a deep breath and peeled herself from the wall. Her first step out of the elevator was met with an unfamiliar sound, however. This time everyone in the group could hear it. Singing.

Rudo glanced at Rolf. "Either I'm hallucinating, or we have company." He grabbed his datapad from his belt and pulled up the map of Biosystems. He shook his head then held the tablet toward the rest of the group. "According to Central Command, this room doesn't exist."

Sure enough, Rolf saw that the dot indicating where Rudo was standing was supposedly just outside the laboratories on the main level.

Rolf frowned. "That figures. Heaven forbid any tools we have to help us with this mission should be reliable for a change." He took the device from Rudo and looked for other signs of life. "So, where's this singing coming from?"

"That won't help you," Rudo answered, pointing at the screen. "It's only programmed to my honing chip. I suggest we simply listen for-"

"I already found it!" Nei exclaimed from a short distance away. She pointed at a cabinet on the other side of a half-wall. Rolf, Rudo and Amy waded through a sea of fallen ceiling tiles, broken equipment and spilled storage containers, all covered in the putrid remains of biomonsters. Rolf wondered how Nei plowed through the mess so swiftly without the group being aware of her movement.

Coming from inside the cabinet was a man's tenor, singing through a cracked and somewhat deranged voice:

_"It's a long way to get to Kueri,  
It's a long way to go.  
It's a long way to get to Kueri  
To the sweetest girl I know.  
Goodbye, University,  
Farewell, Paseo Square!  
It's a long, long way to get to Kueri,  
But my heart's right there."_

The group eyed each other as the refrain ended and the voice started humming instead. Rolf pulled Nei over to his side and mumbled a question into her ear.

"I take it that's not a biomonster, right?"

Nei suppressed a giggle. "Rolf! Don't make me laugh. Of course it's not. Since when can biomonsters sing?"

"Well-"

Nei suddenly scowled back at her adoptive brother. "Don't answer that," she warned him as she opened the cabinet before the rest of the team could protest. The others gasped and yelled complaints at her for not using caution. They all took steps away from the cabinet and drew their weapons. After a few seconds of silence, Nei peered into the dark opening. "Oh, it's just some guy. He looks pretty scared."

Rudo grumbled. "Just 'some guy'? That doesn't explain much." He holstered his shotgun and reached into the cabinet. There was no resistance from the stranger, who emerged, limp and dazed, in Rudo's grasp.

Amy screamed. "Hugh! Hugh Thompson! What in the _world_ are you doing here?" She looked him up and down, her shaking hands clasped over her mouth.

"So this is your missing friend?" Rolf asked. Before he could say anything else, Hugh spoke for the first time.

"You're not Professor Auttenberg!" he exclaimed as he looked over Rudo from his feet to his hair. "You're huge!"

Rudo smirked. "You got that right, kid. I'm Rudolf Steiner, and even at my size and with three other people helping, I nearly died in this supposedly closed-off building. You mind telling us why you're here _by yourself?_"

Hugh's crazed laughter made everyone squirm. "I'm here to help her!" He pointed at Amy. The doctor looked around at everyone.

"I-I... didn't tell him about our mission! Well, not Biosystems, specifically. I can't believe you'd do something like this, Hugh!" She huffed, stomping her foot. "As a doctor I demand we immediately find an exit and teleport back to Paseo! We all need to get to a hospital, especially Hugh!" She crossed her arms.

Hugh wore a dopey grin. "Wow! She's cute when she's all fired up like that, huh?"

"That's enough," Rolf said, pushing past Hugh. "Look over there; those look like outer doors." He motioned to the giant titanium doors a short distance away. He noticed the control panel to the doors had been fried, but he retrieved a magnetized keypad from his pack and snapped it onto the door frame. He entered a few numbers and then held his badge up to the keypad's censor. The doors opened noisily and revealed Motavia at dusk. Rolf would have breathed a sigh of relief if he hadn't been caught off-guard by his keypad working successfully.

"So let me get this straight: My clearance keypad wouldn't work on Nido, wouldn't work on the main entrance to Biosystems, and wouldn't work on its cargo lift. However, it works on _these_ doors, which don't appear on our maps of the structure. If we had known about this entrance, our trip to get the recorder would have been only about one-quarter the distance we covered in this hellhole." He furrowed his brow and looked over at Rudo. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Rudo scratched his chin. "Sabotage."

"Exactly."

No one said a word for several moments until Hugh broke the silence with laughter. He darted out of the building like a kid at the last bell of the last school day.

"Rita! I'm free!" he called out in joy, arms opened wide and face to the sky. Nei followed him closely and pounced on him, sending him to the ground. She wrestled him into a headlock and kept him there as the rest of the team quickly made their way out of the building. Rolf thought of all the questions he had for the Commander, for Amy and for Hugh as he removed the telepipe from his bag. His mission was complete, yet having accomplished his task, he somehow had a terrible feeling that his troubles had just begun.

* * *

_Note: This isn't the end of Hugh's story. I think I can wrap it up in one more chapter, though. Hugh's song can be sung to the tune "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," if anyone's wondering. Cookies to anyone who immediately thought of Crow from MST3K and not World War I. ;)_


End file.
